Monday, September 14, 2015

Campaign Ideas - Heroes of the Last Age

I'll admit, Heroes of the Last Age is not a new concept by any means. However, it's one I've been tossing around in the back of my mind for awhile now and I feel like I've finally found the perfect system to use it with (Fantasy Age).

Heroes of the Last Age is a science fantasy campaign set in a post-apocalyptic version of our own world. The continents have merged back into a single super-continent, much like Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique. Civilization as we know collapsed centuries ago, leaving independent city-states build upon the ruins of the settlements that came before it as a dying, red sun hangs high within the sky.

These few city-states are under the control of powerful sorcerers wielding dark magics. Each of these magicians are cloaked in mystery, with some being more benevolent than others. The one exception to this is the great city of Bastion, which is ruled by the Artificer's Guild, a group of individuals who scour the land for the technological artifacts of the past.

The typical fantasy races exist on this forsaken world. The albino dwarves inhabit the labyrinthine caverns underneath the continent, the utterly hairless elves live in secluded settlements within the land's few remaining forests, the rat-like halflings that survive within the darker corners of the city-states, the bestial orcs that ravage the land, and otherworldly gnomes with their abnormally large heads and subtle insanity.

Two major religions are present within the realm. Most belong to the Church of the Orbital Gods, a polytheistic religion built around ancient AIs which exist within powerful satellites orbiting the planet, occasionally broadcasting their messages to the citizens of the world. The other, more secretive religion is the Cult of the Old Ones, mad men and women who worship eldritch abominations from beyond the stars.

Heroes of the Last Age is the result of me tossing Gamma World, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Dying Earth, Smith's Zothique Cycle, and post-apocalyptic movies of the 1980's into a metaphorical blender and pureeing the crap out of them to make a delicious, gonzo concoction. This campaign would use the base system of Fantasy Age will a lot of the technology rules presented in Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana. Also, I can't help but use the awesome idea of the Orbital Gods from Patrick Wetmore's ASE1 Anomalous Subsurface Environment.

Although it will probably be awhile before this campaign sees time at my table, I will probably throw up a few ideas I've been brainstorming for it, like new races, talents, and specializations. Also, feel free to take this concept and run with it if you'd like. I wouldn't have posted it if I felt otherwise.